Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic city in Kent, most famous for its UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canterbury Cathedral. The city is around 1.5 hours away from London makes a lovely day trip if you wish to explore more of England. Canterbury is home to many historical sites including a city wall that was created during Roman times and rebuilt in the 14th century.

Most of the tourists visit the city because of the Canterbury Cathedral which is the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The cathedral was founded in 597 and entirely rebuilt from 1070 to 1077 due a fire in 1067 that had destroyed the cathedral. Over the following 900 years there have been various additions and alterations to the cathedral but parts of the Quire and some windows and their stained glass date back to the 12th century. A staircase and parts of the North Wall remain from the cathedral as it was in 1077.

Canterbury became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres after the murder of its most famous Archbishop, Thomas Becket, in 1170. It is said that the Archbishop was murdered by four knights in response to Henry II reclamation “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”. The murder took place in the Martyrdom. Shortly after the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket miracles were said to take place making the city a pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages.

Apart from the famous Canterbury Cathedral there are lots of things to do and visit in Canterbury including the Buttermarket, the Westgate Towers, the city walls, St. Augustine Abbey, Lady Wootton’s Green, the Christ Church Gate (photo below), and of course the cosy little restaurants and pubs that you see everywhere in the historic centre of Canterbury.